Herakles and Omphale

Author(s): Elmer G. Suhr

Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 57, No. 4 (Oct., 1953), pp. 251-263
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/501141
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 American Journal of Archaeology
Vol. 57, No. 4 (October, 1953)

HERAKLES AND OMPHALE

ELMER G. SUHR

PLATES 73-74

of role,4 although, in general, heroes fitted

T HEing
legend of Herakles
its origin and
back to the Omphale,
conflict trac-
between much more appropriately into tragedy than
Hellenic and pre-Hellenic religions, experi- divinities. In general, Pfuhl's statement is cor-
enced a number of transformations throughout rect as far as Attica is concerned, and the ex-
Greek and Roman times as well as later history, ception in literature, as we shall see, has a very
changes which reflect the prevailing political good reason. The non-Attic sculptor before
movements and the attitude toward woman. Alexander the Great has given us little of the
The lack of representations in the archaiccomic
peri-in the career of Herakles, unless we
od is not surprising, but its absence on vases the point by citing the experience of
stretch
Herakles
and in the plastic arts of the fifth century is with the Kerkopes.5 Likewise the vase
very significant. Except for its appearance in
painter, except for a caricature,6 has treated his
literature, especially in comedies, it waslabors
com-and sufferings in a serious vein;7 we must,
of course, admit that the Caeretan hydria,
pletely ignored until Hellenistic and Roman
times when it degenerated into a romantic which
bur-portrays Herakles raising havoc with
lesque. Pfuhl 1 implies that prior to the Roman and his attendants, is an outstanding
Busiris
example, from our viewpoint, of a humorous
period when the painter represented Herakles
as a clumsy, helpless sot, the hero was regarded
treatment,8 but in Attica the vase painter seems
as too much of a tragic figure to be usedtoashave
theheld himself aloof from such an inter-
pretation.9 We must be careful, however, to
subject of ridicule in art. Certainly his legend-
ary connection with Omphale was current guardinagainst the conclusion that, because of
Attica long before Hellenistic times,2 these
as the
facts, the Greeks were exclusively inter-
ested in Herakles as a hero, for that aspect
comic poets amply testify.3 In fifth century
Athens there was no exclusively tragic charac-
underlying a comic interpretation of his char-
ter, least of all Herakles, who could not be acter, even if submerged, was not unknown.
moulded by the dramatist to play another typeWhatever may have been the reason in the

1 Malerei und Zeich. d. Gr. II 905. 6 Pfuhl, op. cit. II, 627.
2F. Cauer, RhM (1891) pp. 244 if. corrects Wilamo-7 Pfuhl, op. cit. I, 339, has corrected an erroneous iden-
witz, Herakles (Berlin 1889) Vol. I, pp. 313-14, ontification
this of Omphale by C. Robert (Heldensage, 593,4).
point.
8 E. Buschor, Gr. Vase Painting (New York 1921) p.
8 Plutarch, Pericles 24, mentions Kratinos and Eupolis.
89, calls the two scenes of this vase "cabinet pictures of
4 Cf. V. Ehrenberg, Aspects of the Ancient World (New
York 1946) p. 146. vigorous humour."
5 A. de Ridder, RA XXVI (1900) pp. 99-114 has identi- 9 D. M. Robinson, Excavations at Olynthos V, pp. 69-
fied two figures of a bronze relief as Herakles and 70, pl. 46, has published vase fragments which portray
Omphale, but actually there is nothing to distinguish this subject but, because of the ornament, he is not sure
the female as the Lydian queen. they are Attic in origin.

251

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 252 ELMER G. SUHR [AJA 57
mind of the
Atticsionvase
to it before the time of Croesus.
painter for Aeschy-
avo
comic lus 14 mentions that Herakles
possibilities in Herakles' career consented to be
understand why soldhe
into the service of the Lydianhis
shunned queen, andco
with Omphale. That such a hero, Sophocles,15 referring to his stay in Lydia, limits
celebrated for his deeds of valor, should be the period to a year; otherwise his account
portrayed as playing the role of a hireling toagrees in general with that of Apollodorus. Let
an Oriental woman was repugnant and distaste- us follow the account of the latter: just prior
ful to the Greek of the mainland where the to the murder of Iphitus, it should be noted,
position of the woman in the family was so Herakles had returned from the palace of Ad-
different.1' Why, then, did the comic poetsmetus,
of whose queen he had restored from
Hades. Although he was purified at Amyclae,
Athens turn to this theme for subject matter?
Because it afforded excellent material for a he found himself burdened with a disease which
occasioned
satire on Aspasia's position in the household of the journey to Delphi. There fol-
Pericles which had achieved considerable noto-
lowed the struggle with Apollo over the tripod,
the hurled thunderbolt of Zeus, and an oracle
riety during the Samian war, if we may trust
Plutarch 11 who claims the Milesian woman ordering him to be sold and to serve in Lydia
was responsible for the conflict. All this for
fur- three years, the compensation to be paid to
Eurytus. Hermes then sold Herakles to the
nished the comic poet with a striking analogy
appropriate to the offense committed by queen
the of Lydia, but Eurytus refused the com-
pensation. While at the court of Omphale he
political leader of Athens and makes the excep-
tion in Attica which strengthens our rule. subdued
One the Kerkopes and Syleus, buried the
might ask why the Amazon, who supposedly body of Icarus, and took part both in the voy-
age of the Argonauts and the Calydonian boar
subjected the male to humiliating degradation
and whose original home was in the East, hunt.
was Without any reference to a marriage
not also banned from the plastic arts of theOmphale he left Lydia, at the end of his
with
servitude, for an attack on Ilium. Diodorus
fifth century. In this case, however, the female
played a secondary role in both literaturediffers
and from this account in the following de-
tails: the purchase price was paid to the sons of
art in favor of a conquering Herakles or The-
seus, and so the disgrace attaching to their
Eurytus; in addition to overcoming the Ker-
family relationships is never obvious; more-
kopes and Syleus, he destroyed the city of the
Itoni; Herakles married Omphale by whom he
over, there was enough of the heroic and tragic
in this warring female to make her a worthy had a son Lamus, after having had a son by a
opponent on the field of battle, an element slave of the queen; he returned to the Pelopon-
altogether missing in the spinning Herakles nesusat whence he made war on Ilium; nothing
the Lydian court. In Graeco-Roman times, is said about the struggle with Apollo over the
when the social status of woman had changed, tripod. Lucian 16 and Tertullian 17 emphasize
the degradation of Herakles in the queen's serv-
the spectacle of Herakles, reduced to the level
of a weakling in the power of a woman, was ice; aOvid Is and Seneca 19 definitely refer to
standing favorite. spinning as his occupation at the court. Other
No full account of the story is recordedreferences
in 20 have no direct bearing on the con-
extant literature until the time of Apollo- tent of the legend.
dorus 12 and Diodorus,13 the former givingI make us no pretense of being able to resolve
the older version; furthermore, there is no allu-
the puzzling maze of religion, literary composi-

10 To Sophocles, Trach. 69 ff., it was shameful for15 Loc. cit.

Herakles to serve this woman. 16 Dial. deor. XIII, 2 and de hist. scr. 10.
11 Per. 24-5. The social implications, as we shall
17 see,
De Pallio 4.
are only one reason for avoiding the comic Herakles in
18 Her. IX 57 ff.
Attic vase painting.
12 II, 6, 3. 19 Hippolytus 317 ff.
13 IV, 31. 20 Ephor. FHG I, 235, 9; Ovid, Fasti II, 311 ff.; Plu-
14 Agamemnon 1024-5. tarch, Quaest. Gr. 45; Propertius III, 11, 17.

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 1953] HERAKLES AND OMPHALE 253
tion, and mythical tradition
family relationshipslying
when theback of
religion of the th
figure of Herakles as we
Greek know
peninsula passed him, but tosome
from matriarchy the
appreciation of therule problem is necessary
of the Olympian family headed by father t
throw light on his adventure
Zeus: to effect a fairwith
compromiseOmphale
Zeus gave up i
Lydia. Wilamowitz 21 his made
wife Dione, the
oflater Hebe, in favor ofaHera,
Herakles grea
a former divinity
hero comparable to Faust, of the earth, while
constantly Hebe is
strugglin
against the greatest subsequently
of odds.22 His
handed over chief Such
to Herakles.32 con-
an arrangement
tribution lies in tracing the implies that it was as easy for
Herakles-Omphal
episode to the GreekZeus and Herakles to cross the
mainland.23 gap between two
Cauer24 de-
religionsof
fends the Lydian origin as forthe
Hortensius to borrow while
myth, the wife K
Truempel25 supports of Cato and, what is still more important,
Wilamowitz.26 Such it
theory introduces the takes Lydian
for granted thatrulers asorganiza-
the same family an im
portant factor in the later development Olym-
tion held good for matriarchy as for the of th
pic pantheon.
myth. Friedlaender27 It fails to explain
is especially why Hera's
concerne
wrath is a serious
about removing Herakles from obstacle the
to Herakles on cer-
Dorian tra
tain occasions and
dition and making Rhodes the is conspicuously
center absent
of on h
mythological dissemination; he also
others;33 it fails to explain credit
how the dauntless
Kreophylos of Samoshero, who
with on the one
the hand form
served as a model
ofofth
Omphale episode as courage
we for knowthe Greeks it.28 His who
was transformed, on the
other hand,
treatment suffers from an into a weak, gluttonous, promiscu-
overemphasis on th
literary development ous
of Herakles
thewho dons a veil and
subject whichgives overis,
his i
club and lion-skin
a sense, made up of conscious to a queen; it confuses theon
afterthoughts
a theme first mouldeddivine by
and human birth of Herakles B.
religion. as wellSchwei
as

zer 29 has composed the an

worship accorded to him, now
elaborate and as a god and
highl
again as a hero.
suggestive theory relating the What evidence can of
exploits be found
Her
kles to those of heroes in Indian and Germanic for a husband-wife connection between Hera
and Herakles before the coming of Zeus? The
lore, a courageous attempt to arrive at the
fact that Herakles is evidently defending her in
original core of labors; it suffers, however, from
too much dependence on a vase fragment.30 the gigantomachy throws no definite light either
Mention should also be made of a proposed on their early association or their eventual rec-
solution to the family relationships, human onciliation.
and We must admit Cook is on the

divine, by A. B. Cook.3' Here the hero right

be- road, but this theory, as it stands, ha
comes a convenient tool for a readjustmentonly
of tended to increase the confusion surround

21 Herakles (Berlin 1889) Vol. I, p. 286. 28 P. 68. It is difficult to understand how so many

22 Most scholars now agree with Nilsson whomainland

placestraditions can be so easily uprooted and trans-
the hero and most of his labors in Mycenaean ferred; especially is this true of the struggle between
times; cf.
his The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology Herakles
(Cam-and Apollo for the Delphic tripod.
bridge 1932) p. 217 et seq. Nilsson advocates the29 theory
Herakles (Tuebingen 1922).
that the Mycenaeans were immigrant Greeks who in-
30 Cf. Nilsson's review in Deutsche Literaturzeitung
herited the cultural advances of Minoan civilization.
(1922) pp. 834-5.
P. Friedlaender, Herakles (Berlin 1907) p. 139, also men-
31 CR XX (1906) pp. 365ff.; also Jane Harrison: Themis
tions that there are few cults of Herakles in Sparta.
(Cambridge 1912) p. 364 and her Prolegomena (Cam-
L. R. Farnell, Greek Hero Cults and Immortality (Oxford
bridge 1903) p. 317; also CR VII (1893) pp. 74 ff.
1921) pp. 106 if., definitely wrested Herakles from the
Dorians. 32 Farnell, op. cit., pp. 100-1, calls this theory a "quaint
23 Ibid. pp. 315 ff. and desperate hypothesis" which fails to account for
24 RhM, XLVI (1891) p. 244 ff. many influences brought to bear on the career of
Herakles.
25 Philologus I (1891) pp. 611 ff.
33 If, as Cook states, loc. cit., Herakles had been the
26 No worthy substitute for the latter's theory has been
offered. hen-pecked husband of Hera, why does the latter choose
27 Op. cit. p. 57. to persecute him only on certain occasions?

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 254 ELMER G. SUHR [AJA 57

ing the more was of ancient Pelasgian

knotty phasesstock,44 then speaks
ofof th
Herakles the hero must also be reckoned with him as a demon of fertility 45 which seems to
to reach a satisfactory solution. lend more support to the divinity than to the
Although Herakles has always been classedCarl Robert 46 says he was reckoned as a
hero.
among the heroes of mythology, he occupies divinity because he was present at the birth of
such a unique position in this classificationAthena
that and was a prominent fighter with the
the ancients sometimes referred to him as a gods against the giants. Schweitzer,47 although
god, sometimes as a hero. Farnell 34 believeshe classifies him with Indra, Thor, Rama, Sieg-
he was first worshipped as a man, then later fried,as
and others, claims he became a man, once
a god.S5 Pausanias 36 tells us a Cretan he lost all association with magic and the super-
named
Phaistos first persuaded the men of Sicyon natural.
to Nilsson 48 attaches little significance
worship Herakles as a god. Whatever the to his origin, suggesting he may be a fictitious
people
character; his divinity, he writes,49 is perhaps
of any locality may have thought of his original
identity, in whatever capacity he was wor-
post-Homeric. H. J. Rose 50 rejects his divinity
shipped, it appears that the ancient world because
had his name is compounded with that of
Hera; hence he was probably a real man of
settled on no common denominator for his true
status. The divine and heroic elements (theTiryns.
strictly human element was negligible) in his As varied and speculative as these opinions
make-up were so confused that a tragic writerare, it is obvious that Herakles, as the Greeks
knew him, possessed both divine and heroic
like Euripides had his difficulties when trying
to mould Herakles into a tragic character.37
elements in the pattern of his life, but certainly
he had not always been such an unconvincing
Though Sophocles, by avoiding his apotheosis,
limited Herakles to the heroic level, he pre- compound - such a hybrid could not be
sents him as anything but a noble and tragic granted an indisputable position among the
Olympians. Certainly he was not always a god
character.38 Beloch .9 and Meyer 40 call Hera-
kles an old Boeotian god; Wilamowitz4 be- and a hero at the same time, and Willamowitz 5x
lieves neither his name nor the content of his is talking in riddles when he claims Herakles
legend have much to do with the original man was a man who suffered like a man but was

whoever he may have been; Friedlaender 42 is also a god. At some point in his history th
certain he could not have been a god any more hero paled before the godhead or the god lost
than Perseus and dismisses his divine associa- his trophies to the hero, the latter carrying with
tions as secondary. If Herakles was first him
and the trappings of divine majesty, and sin
foremost a hero, why do we not hear of his grave the two elements cannot be reconciled in the
in various localities? Friedlaender 43 avoids the same being, there must have been two Herakles
in ancient religious tradition. In the light of
issue by simply suggesting there may have been
a grave of Herakles in Tiryns, but because the many conflicting opinions on the part of
so
city faded in importance at an early date,scholars and so much conflicting evidence in
people forgot about it. Harrison first says heancient times, the above conclusion is the most

34 Op. cit. pp. 98-99. 44 Prolegomena p. 347.

35 At the same time (p. 95) he refers to him as the 45 Themis p. 365.
great hero of the Greeks. 46 Griechische Heldensage (Berlin 1921) II, p. 423.
86 2.10.1.
47 Op. cit. pp. 238-9.
37 Cf. V. Ehrenberg op. cit. pp. 146 ff.
48 The Mycen. Origin of Gr. Myth. (Cambridge 1932)
38 Cf. C. H. Whitman: Sophocles (Cambridge 1951) p.
p. 192.
119; also W. N. Bates: Sophocles, Poet and Dramatist
49 P. 204.
(Philadelphia 1940) p. 145.
89 RhM XLV, pp. 579 iff. 5oA Handbook of Greek Mythology (London 1928)
40 Gr. Gesch. II, 166; also Kaibel in Nach. d. Goett. p. 205.
Ges. (1901) pp. 505 ff. 51 Op. cit. p. 283. He is perhaps correct in assigning
41 Op. cit. pp. 285-6. the divine Herakles to the Ionian, but what distinguishes
42 Op. cit. p. 163. the god from the hero and why was the divine I [erakles
43 Ibid. p. 164, note 1. more familiar to the eastern Greeks?

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 1953] HERAKLES AND OMPHALE 255
sensible we can advance. In the clash of two
report they were the first to regard Herakles as
a god.
conflicting religious traditions in the early Whether Herakles the hero was prior to
his-
tory of an invading people it seems unlikely
or later than Herakles the god 66 cannot be
that a hero would be raised to the level of a
settled on the authority of classical writers who
are none
divinity; on the other hand, a deity might be too certain of their claims nor can it
submerged or suffer an eclipse to make be concluded, as we have already pointed out,
room
for a compromise, instances of which arethat the god was a casual afterthought on the
well
heels
attested in early Greek religion.52 Let us see how of heroic achievement. The two versions
such a hypothesis can be supported by maythe
just as well have developed contemporane-
available evidence. ously in the early history of two different
peoples,
Homer,53 to be sure, does not pointedly dis- in other words, they represent two
tinguish between the hero and the god but calls
different beings under the same name, although
the shade of the hero a phantom of the one may very well have lost his name to the
god,
already wed to Hebe on Olympus; the other real to make a compromise more effective.
Herakles is divine. Earlier, in the Iliad,54 Hera- Parke 67 thinks that Herakles, originally a god
kles is called the son of Alcmena, and once 55 worshipped by the Boeotians, set out to rival
he is even the son Amphitryon.56 Hesiod 57 Apollo and thus brought about a dispute over
calls him the son of Zeus and Alcmena but wed the tripod. Why not just as well call Apollo
to Hebe on Olympus where he lives unaging the invader who had trouble in usurping the
and without care. Herodotus 58 asserts that those rights of Ge and Herakles? Throughout the
Greeks do right who sacrifice to Herakles as an passages of ancient literature, along with the
immortal and to Herakles as a dead hero; doubts in the minds of the writers, there lurks
Diodorus, in one passage,59 speaks of three a suspicion,
ver- if not a question, about the unity
sions of Herakles, one the Egyptian, the second
of the traditional Herakles.68
a Cretan Dactyl, the third the son of ZeusThereand are three distinctive features about
Alcmena; in another passage 60 he definitelythe
says career of Herakles which separate him from
there are two Herakles, both fathered bythe classification of Greek heroes: first, he con-
Zeus,
one of whom is the son of Alcmena.61 Strabo tends62on an equal level with divinity without
knows of a Herakles who was one of the Idaean suffering the consequences which befall a
Dactyls, not the son of Zeus and Alcmena, normal
and hero; secondly, after committing an
Arrian 63 mentions three, the Theban, the outrageous crime sufficient to condemn a hero
to 64
Tyrian, and the Egyptian Herakles; Pausanias a disastrous end, he seeks and obtains abso.
also seems to be aware of more than one but lution by performing labors, even a menial
writes of them confusedly. The Marathonians 65
task; heroes are not forgiven as easily as gods,

52 E.g. Apollo and Hyakinthos. See A. W. Persson, 60 V, 76.

The Religion of Greece in Prehistoric Times (Berkeley 61 This one emulated the deeds of the other and thus,
and Los Angeles 1942) p. 137; M. Nilsson, Minoan- in the end, both achieved immortality.
Mycenaean Religion and its Survival in Greek Religion 62 8, 3, 30.
(London 1927) p. 485. The latter implies the possibility
63 Anab. II, 16.
of such a degradation of Herakles (547).
64 10, 13, 8.
53 Odys. XI, 601.
54 XIV, 323; XIX, 99. 65 Paus. I, 15, 3 and I, 32, 4.

55 V, 392. 66 Cf. Farnell, Gr. Hero Cults p. 98. The ancient

writers evidently were confused about the origin of
56 Nilsson, Mycen. Or. of Gr. Myth. p. 201, adds that
Homer also echoes the lawless Herakles before moral Herakles, but the mention of so many foreign versions
restraint was laid upon him. In the light of points to an awareness of the foreign divine element in
Homer's
statement in the Odyssey, however, it is hard his to
make-up.
under-
stand why Nilsson calls the divinity of Herakles post-of the Delphic Oracle (Oxford 1939) p.
67 A History
Homeric. 349.

57 Theog. 949-55. 68 The references to foreign versions of Herakles may

58 II, 44. be regarded as products of the impact of eastern religions
59 III, 73. on the Greek newcomers.

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 256 ELMER G. SUHR [AJA 57

nor them duelsas

do
such between
heroes divinities while and
Jason Diomede Per
take labors in recompense
serves only as a disguise or a means for an
to an end.
If we look
grace. Thirdly, he joinsat the sculptured
the circle pediments in of
pians after his sojourn on
Delphi,74 we find Athena earth.
standing in the center,Lor
compares Heraklesbetween thewith the
antagonists, holding hero
each one by
lands, with whom he has much in common, but the wrist; here she is decidedly a restraining
he glosses over his divinity which raises him influence which Herakles, in his impatience, is
above a Siegfried and beyond an Ajax, a Per- loath to obey. As a god he has entered into
seus, or a Jason. His divinity, too, prevents this struggle on his own, and, with a firm hold
him from becoming a suitable subject for trag- on his tripod, he seems to have the best of the
edy and grants him the privilege, along with duel. The same impression is given by the
Dionysus, of mounting the comic stage. Al- vase painter;75 one example 76 presents him
though one can sympathize when he suffers, one alone with his prize as if exulting over his
still feels that on numerous occasions he, like
victory.77 What significance can we attach to
Zeus, gets away free, while a number of inno- this conflict which called forth the intervention

cents must pay for his crimes. A hero, despiteof Zeus himself? 78 Regardless of its historical
his ambitions and desires which frequently go associations a conflict between two such prom-
beyond their bounds, is still subject to mortal
inent figures must also reflect a violent religious
limitations and so commands human respect struggle, one which can only be explained by
when he falls; a god, if he comes too near man's
the invasion of a new god into the province of
level, can reap the ridicule of man because hean old established divinity. Why should Apollo,
takes unlimited privileges without accepting who was capable of conquering an old god and
the responsibilities ensuing from his actions.of burying him beneath his sanctuary at Amy-
Can we distinguish between Herakles the heroclae,79 have any trouble coping with Herakles,
and Herakles the god on these terms? In bothif he was no more than a hero? This legend,
aspects he appears with the same attributes,
which is an old one in art, was no doubt seized
upon by Kreophylos of Samos and used to
the same weapons, which forces us to base our
conclusions on his actions or the company headvantage as a prelude to the Omphale episode;
keeps.70 both legends reflect events in the career of
Herakles fought with Ares, Hades,"7 and Herakles the god. I can only regard the thesis
Apollo, struggles which single him out as a of Farnell as inconsistent when he 80 realizes
divinity opposing divinity. It may be asserted how exceptionally Herakles stands out in the
by way of objection that Diomede wounded rank of heroes but goes on to regard his pre-
Aphrodite and opposed Ares successfully on the eminent traits, including his deification, as late
Trojan plain. Here, however, the situation is accretions; moreover, he has not included (pp.
much different: it is Athena who urges Diomede 98-9) all the statements of Arrian and Diodorus,
to attack Aphrodite 72 and who rides along in two of the ancient authors who, he asserts, were
the chariot against Ares,73 all of which makes "unanimous" in claiming Herakles was first a

69 The Hero (London 1936) pp. 178 ff. 74 F. Poulsen, Delphi (London 1920) pp. 109-10.
75
70 Perhaps this is what Miss Harrison, Mythology and Cf. J. G. Frazer on Paus. 10, 13, 8; also FR: pl. 91
and 133-4.
Monuments of Ancient Athens (London 1890) p. 137,
means when she says: "It is remarkable that Herakles76 Pfuhl, op. cit. III, pl. 167.
77 Other examples giving Herakles the same advan-
on Athenian vase-painting - e.g. at the birth of Athena
--appears among the Olympian gods; elsewhere he istage in athe struggle are presented by S. Reinach, Reper-
mere hero." toires des Reliefs (Paris 1912) II, p. 60, 2 and III, p. 131,
5; also G. Richter: GBA (1950) pp. 54-5, fig. 28.
71 Nilsson, The Mycen. Origin of Gr. Myth. pp. 203-4,
78 The historical interpretation of Wilamowitz, p.
has an interesting theory about this encounter, but why
265, note 9, now that Herakles can no longer be ac-
should he be so certain that Homer thought of Herakles
counted a Dorian hero, is worthless. See also Fried-
only as a mortal?
laender p. 155.
72 Iliad V, 133.
79 A. W. Persson, op. cit. p. 137.
78 Iliad V, 856 ff. 8so Gr. Hero Cults, pp. 95 ff.

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 1953] HERAKLES AND OMPHALE 257
hero, later a god. Thewhether the Eastern divinities
struggles with were assimilated
Ares and
Hades are likewise beyond the
with Herakles capacities
through the agency of sailorsof andthe
Greek hero. traders from the Orient or by Greek colonists
Heroes like Ajax must pay the full measurein the East,87 we observe that the god Zeus, as
of punishment when they offend one of the well as Herakles, was compromised in such
borderline worship at various points in the
Olympians, but gods are treated much more
Mediterranean area, but heroes, as heroes, re-
leniently; they are lowered in dignity by being
ceived no such consideration; Perseus also en-
forced to serve man in a servile capacity - for
a limited period. After killing the Cyclops, joyed connections with the East without being
Apollo had to submit to service under Ad- elevated to the level of divinity. Because of the
metus;8' Zeus first thought of hurling him downoriginal association of the god Herakles with
into Tartarus, but his mother Latona inter- the Earth Mother he had a stronger bond with
ceded for him, whereupon he was sent to serve the East than a heroic Herakles, famed for his
as a shepherd for one year. After the revolu- wanderings, his exploits characteristic of so
tionary behavior of Poseidon and Apollo toward many heroes. This divine Herakles was also
Zeus, the two divinities were ordered to build made the ancestor of the Lydian kings, a fact
the walls of Troy for Laomedon.8" On two which explains why Croesus was reputed to
occasions Herakles committed a flagrant crime have been burned on a pyre.8"
which called for strong retribution: first, after This is no attempt, as we have already said,
the murder of his children, and later, following to unravel the maze of Herakles' career or to
the wanton murder of Iphitus. The first crime, analyze all the episodes of his mythology; a dis-
because the deed was inspired by Hera and be- tinction, however, between the hero and the
cause the punishment raised rather than low- divinity avoids many of the contradictory phases
ered his prestige in the estimation of men, of his history, e.g. the wrath of Hera which
belongs more to the heroic Herakles, but the crops up very obviously at certain points only
latter incident, which I have reason to believe to turn about face at another point. Why
is much earlier in his career as we know it, should Zeus and Herakles be so closely attached
brought him to the court of Omphale and even-to one another as a father who takes pride in
his son's achievements and on another occasion
tually, because of a misinterpretation, made him
the laughing stock of the Greek world. The
threatens him with a thunderbolt while the
burning of Herakles on the pyre, while it was
latter is greedily devouring fruit? 89 Why does
borrowed from a custom of the East,s8 is a persecute him already as a babe by dis-
Hera
factor which sets him apart from the classifica-
patching serpents to strangle him and place all
tion of heroes. It is the one post-Homeric epi-
sorts of obstacles in his pathway as he carries
sode in his career which may have been added out certain labors, then be only too glad of his
b)y Pherekydes 84 or Kreophylos of Samos."8protection
We in the battle against the giants? 90
Farnell 91 claims the very name of Heracles,
know that a number of divinities, e.g. in Tyre,
in Cilicia, and in Lydia were burned 86 in effigy
"the glory of Hera," is enough to disparage the
or by human substitutes, and we must rememberquestion of the hatred of the goddess, but this
they were divinities, not heroes. Regardlessisofmerely an awkward way of evading the issue;

81 Apollodorus III, 10, 4. 87 For the identification of Herakles with the Cilician
82 Iliad I, 399 ff. and Schol. on Iliad XXI, 444; also Sandos see A. B. Cook, Zeus (Cambridge 1914) I, pp.
597 ff.
Lucian, de Sacrificiis 4.
3s Cf. Farnell, Greek Hero Cults p. 172. 88 The earliest version of this story is furnished by
Bacchylides III, 23 ff. The vase painter (FR: pl. 113)
84 Wilamowitz pp. 323-4.
has portrayed Croesus emulating his great ancestor
85 Friedlaender p. 76. Herakles by ascending the pyre.
86J. G. Frazer, The Scapegoat (London 1925) p. 408 89 Cf. Cook, op. cit. I, p. 521, note 2.
carries such a practice back to the burning of ancient 90 Cf. Cook II p. 778, fig. 741; also Pfuhl III pl. 14-1
divinities or divine kings to send winter on its way and where Herakles shields her from the advances of satyrs.
to usher in spring. 91 Greek Hero Cults pp. 100-1.

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 258 ELMER G. SUHR [AJA 57
the Herakles is
hatred
Hera were closely associated 97 and thatin
as genuineof his
name is derived
as the name of Herakles, genuine from that of the goddess, but
why should one once
make the relationship known as the "glory
between theof
Hera"
doxical unless we become her bitter enemy? On
distinguish the island
betwee
and the god. Wilamowitz 92
of St. Sebastian-near Cadiz explains
a8 and on the islands
as the natural effect of the Dorian invasion; of Peragil and Paloma 99 Hera and Herakles
were associated in cult.x00 Most authorities
the invading worshippers of Herakles aroused
the resentment of the native devotees of Hera;93
agree that the name of Herakles means "the
but now we know that Herakles was not a
glory of Hera" but hardly anyone is able to
reconcilecan-
Dorian hero. The enmity of the goddess this interpretation with the hero
not be accounted for satisfactorilyHerakles
unlesswhoweearns the enmity of the goddess.
make a distinction between the laboring hero
Farnell,1?1 in particular, strains himself to the
and the god surviving from pre-Hellenic utmosttimes.
to explain away the stepmother's wrath
When Hera became the wife of Zeusinand favor of the concord reflected in his name
queen
of Heaven as well as the goddess of marriage, and to persuade us that the humanity of Hera-
she was regarded as the guardian of kles the is primary, his divinity secondary. Of
Greek
family, and any extra-marital relationship course, no of
"Greek husband was ever named 'the
Zeus with another woman, as was the case with glory of his wife'," but how can we be so sure
any other such deviation of Zeus, naturally he was originally thought of as a Greek hus-
called forth her enmity.94 She had no way of band? Paul Kretschmer'02 has made the most
punishing her husband (except indirectly), but sensible interpretation of the name: Hera and
she did vent her feelings on lo, Semele, Danaei, Herakles definitely belong together, the name
and their offspring. Herakles the hero, driven meaning not "Hera's glory," but "glory ac-
mad and persecuted in so many of his under- quired through Hera." 103 All this tension at
takings, belongs in this category. On the other the seams by Farnell and others would be un-
hand, Hera makes no objection to his struggle necessary if we assume the divinity of one
with Apollo over the tripod, in no way inter- Herakles, the heroic character of the other,
feres with his conquest of death,95 and allows which means that Herakles, as a god, never
him to defend her against the giants, all epi- received such an auspicious name only to earn
sodes involving a survival of the divine Hera- the hatred of the goddess when he failed, in
kles. To represent this Herakles as the hen- some later transformation or episode, to meas-
pecked husband of the old earth goddess96 isure up to her standards of respect. It is incon-
a biased construction fostered by the Greek's ceivable how one can flout the authority of the
preference for a divine family whose overlord ancients to the extent of denying either the
was the father; this view also contributed much wrath of Hera or the name of Herakles; one is
to the development of Herakles as a comic as genuine and real as the other, only contra-
character. dictory when we try to explain away the di-
The name of Herakles has also been a stum- vinity or the hero in favor of the other. Let us
bling block to a classification of his dubious
picture an invading people coming upon a
identity. There is little doubt that Hera and mother goddess whom they choose,
native

92 P. 293. 99Strabo 168; 170.

93 We know now, as was noted above, that Herakles 100o A. Shulten, RhM LXXXVI (1937) p. 312; other
was not the exclusive hero of the Dorians; moreover, it associations between Hera and Herakles are mentioned
is still hard to determine how much the incoming Greeks by J. Prickartz, MusB XIV (1910) pp. 321 ff.
contributed to his personality. 101 Gr. Hero Cults pp. 99 ff.
94 Cf. Nilsson, Mycen. Or. of Gr. Myth. p. 211. 102 Glotta VIII (1917) pp. 121 ff.
95 The Cerberus episode is a later version, as we shall 103 He does not believe there is any sound evidenc
see.
for thinking of Herakles (p. 123) as a protector of Her
96 Cook, CR XX (1906), pp. 365 ff. who later became her enemy; finally, he adopts the para
97 Nilsson, Mycen. Or. of Gr. Myth. pp. 189 ff.
doxical view that Herakles the hero antedates Herakles
98 Pliny, N.H. IV, 120. the god (p. 126).

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 19531 HERAKLES AND OMPHALE 259
born into a world
whether because of preference of limi
or tactful di
plomacy, to reclothe andallyadopt
have under
succumbedthe name to
tions
of Hera.104 This goddess, on this
they also theme,
observe, i.e is
associated with a male divinityand
Cerberus by the
no means
journey o
the same rank and hardlyHesperides,
her husbandbecame buttwo stil
labors. Theshe
a necessary adjunct to everything burning on t
stands for.
They therefore decide the to call him Herakles
destruction of the go
the glory of his female tined to be reborn
counterpart. Thein inth
vaders incorporate Hera apotheosis
into theirof aownhero snat
divine
family by marrying her to a topermanent
their sky homegod Zeus on
thus leaving Herakles The figure of
stranded Omphale
without any
important standing or in function
Hellenistic as and Roman
a divinity.
What then happens to wethishave an old divinity?
forsaken characte
He merges his identity Hellenic times, one
with another who
character
centuries
heroic in nature, because before she
of a similarity eithesu
in name or function, a new setting.
character whoThemust namehav
been closely associated Herodotus,109
with Zeus from who thesays bet
Herakleids, tracing
ginning of his career in Greece. The god i their
this new Herakles crops and a up slave
at girl, the daug
a number o
points in his tradition,the especially
time of Apollodor
in his con
flicts with divinities, have
the seen, was substituted
punishments meted
out for excesses, his contacts
version of with
the death,
story was and
his own end on the pyre.gether by Kreophylos o
I cannot pretend to Croesus. Where did
have probed into the
the p
suitable
secret of Herakles' origin to reasons
or the his purpose for s
tween a male of
many changes in the development and hisa tradi
fema
assuming
tion;105 I do claim, however, a predominant
that he is a hybri
character compounded in mythology and religio
of a pre-Hellenic con
cept of a male divinity ground
and the inGreek
Asia Minor
hero who ev
in spite of his valiant of deeds,
Zeus on theno
had mainland
right t
expect a resurrectionments,
after his equally
death. as The
old,consu
flict over the tripod andin customs; the motive
Delphi suggests the
struggle of Apollo for one the
in legend and was
possession of th pr
oracle which must have color,
been although
under divineit, too,pro
tection even prior to cedents.
his coming; though even
tually subdued, the god The nameHerakles
of Omphale, becauselived
of its re- on, a
semblance
we shall see, in another to the omphalos,
guise, while has beenApollo,
a tantaliz- o
the surface, effected a for
ing puzzle peaceful compromis
the etymologist.110 No connection
between the two has
with his opponent. Another been established, difficult
attempt to oblit-
as it is to
erate the god in Herakles is well believe there was no association be-
explained by
tween them
Nilsson 106 commenting oninIliad early religion.
V, The 395 problem
ff. is Th
god's conquest overso death
much the more complicated
was because we know
changed to
so little about
campaign against the Pylians,107 becausethe omphalos which cropsa up hero
in

104 There is no reason under the sun why Hera, in los Jules Prickartz, loc. cit. pp. 313 ff. acknowledges
the ancient role of Herakles as a divinity, but unfor-
spite of her name, should be considered a Greek impor-
tation, as Farnell (p. 105) wishes to believe. For Hera's
tunately his sharp distinction between the Argive divin-
role as earth goddess see Cook, Zeus I, pp. 623-4. ity and the Theban hero gives the former a portion of
the labors which belong more appropriately to the hero.
lo5 Whatever I have stated on these subjects consti-
tutes a mere essay in probability. 109 I, 6.

106 Mycen. Origin of Gr. Myth. pp. 89 and 203-4. 110 H. Usener, Goetternamen pp. 34-8, gives a number
o07 Cf. also Rose, op. cit. pp. 215-6. of parallel examples.

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 260 ELMER G. SUHR [AJA 57
so many andand
localities again the preserves
relation between the two so divini-
ma
ties varies from one
ciations with pre-Hellenic divinities locality to another. Among
all that has beenthewritten
Minoans there was apparently
and aconjec definitely
female divinity and
the subject it appears sensible to thin another definitely male,
omphalos asboth, according
marking the to Nilsson,'14
site derived
wherefrom
god had nature demons (p.
fertilized mother earth with 382), although there are
of lightning, onlythose who claim the
later, images of the
with the snake-goddess
comi
and others represent,
Greeks, taking on the new meaning not the divinities, but o
mound, because their
newcomers
worshippers.115 In Asiahave a
Minor Cybele w
burying the god was of a divinity
theof conquered
earth, water, light, and life,
ben
altar or shrine ofwhile theirher male counterpart,
own divinity. Attis, the god of
we rely on Omphale's transitory vegetable connection
life, was regarded at times w
omphalos or discard as a son, at it,times asOmphale
the husband of the god- car
many trappings of dess.116
earlyAmong the number of later divinities
religion to be
as a new creationderived in from the mother goddess,
a poet's mind. Hera isTh
an
ing in Naples112 calls
outstanding attention
example.117 Did this divinity,toas
exchange of garments an earth goddess,
and carry
theover into her relation o
figure
an old bisexual god to Zeus anyof tracevegetation,
of a former connection with su a
a former connection male divinity? withIn cult and fertility
in art objects we
have already pointed find representations
out the of the marriage
divine of Zeusfe
the career of Herakles, to which Parke 11 lends and Hera, the former wearing a veil, a feature
added support by tracing his divine origin to which can only be regarded as a survival of pre-
Boeotia, not far from Delphi, to account for his Hellenic times.118 And what was the nature of
conflict with Apollo over the right to dispense this sacred marriage so widespread in early
oracles. It may very well be that Herakles was, religion?
at this time, associated with a goddess who was This sacred rite, going back to primitive
lost sight of after the coming of Apollo, in which times, in which the Earth Mother and the fer-
case Herakles was fighting for the rights of the tilizing agent were united in what we may call
goddess as well as for his own. However, even a symbolic marriage,'19 was designed to encour-
if there had been such a divinity at home here, age the coming of spring and the fertilization
she could be only one of the possible sources of the soil. This relationship of marriage be-
for the later Omphale. tween the two seasonal phenomena, which do
It is generally recognized that a mother god- not become clear until they are embodied in
dess was the dominant divinity in the eastern anthropomorphic concepts, is a later construc-
Mediterranean world before the coming of the tion and so has a direct bearing on our thesis.
Greeks and that she assumed a different form These two beings were definitely divinities who
in different localities. With her was usually left their traces in Greek religion; even Far-
associated a male god in a subordinate role, nell 120 admits that the "hero-god" Herakles is

111 The latest discussion of the subject is that of E. 116 A. W. Persson, op. cit. pp. 106-7 and 122.
Baldwin Smith, The Dome (Princeton 1950) pp. 75-79. 117 Cook, op. cit. I, pp. 623-4.
Here one may also find the important references for the
118 A convenient list has been made by Cook in Zeus
subject. See also Jane Harrison, Thenzis pp. 397 ff., W.
III, pp. 1025-65 and in the CR XX (1906) p. 378. One of
Miller, Daedalus and Thespis (New York 1929) pp. 71-5,
its prototypes he finds in the marriage of the sun and
and K. Kerenyi, Niobe (Zuerich 1949) pp. 179 ff. pl. II.
moon on Crete, Zeus I, pp. 522-3. Although the marriage
112 Hermann-Bruckmann, Denkmaeler der Malerei des
of Zeus and Hera may be a late development, which is
Altertums Colored Print 3.
Cook's main thesis, he does not claim that this particular
113 Op. cit. pp. 349-50. type of marriage was introduced with the coming of
Zeus.
114 Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and its Survival in
Greek Religion (London 1927) p. 354. 119 Again we must guard against intruding our family
115 H. A. Groenewegen-Frankfort, Arrest and concept
Move- into a primitive tradition.
ment (London 1951) p. 214. 120 Gr. Hero Cults p. 165-6.

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 1953] HERAKLES AND OMPHALE 261
divinity
exceptional among heroes who
in may very
that, inwell have been Hera-
ritual, he
kles.129
was wed, like other divinities, to a virgin priest-
ess. Traces of his sacred marriage
In the legend as it has come down and
to us wethe
divinities thus united are can told that
beHerakles
followedwas compelled through
to wear
Greek religion back tofemale garments, while Omphale times;121
pre-Hellenic wore his lion-
even Zeus, as we have seen, had to submit to skin and carried his club, a feature undoubtedly
such a compromise. There is sound evidence derived from the exchange of garments in the
sacred marriage. The custom is common to
for the institution of a sacred marriage on the
island of Cos in which the priest, in imitation
many primitive peoples, as Frazers30 testifies,
of Herakles, dressed himself in female gar- in most instances at the time of marriage or
the marking of some crucial stage in life.
ments.122 Farnell 123 suggests Hebe as the other
party in the marriage. The very fact that Cook 131 refers to a festival at Argos, to another
in honor of Hera at Samos, a wedding night
Herakles is associated with a sacred marriage
custom at Sparta, and the above mentioned
adds additional weight to his divinity which
may be as old as the rite itself which, in turn,Coan festival where such an exchange of gar-
has roots in the ancient Orient.124 A. de ments was part of the ceremony. Such a rite de
Ridder 125 published a bronze relief, of passage was practiced at crucial periods of life,
Chalcid-
ian origin, but found on the Acropolis of of individuals and during festivals
i.e. marriage
Athens, which he interpreted as an apotheosis by large groups.132 The same practice spread to
of Herakles. A later and happier afterthought the worshippers in the rites of Cybele, in which
on the part of the same authority 126 case the Gallus
labels it emasculated himself, donned
Herakles and Omphale united in a sacred mar-dress, and let his hair grow long.133
feminine
riage; the relief is dated somewhere before Prickartz 550134 asserts that, although Hera is no-
B.c. The identification of Herakles, because of where mentioned, the exchange of garments at
the general resemblance of the relief to the the Coan festival derives from the association
Omphale painting in Naples already referred of Herakles with Hera, the goddess of marriage.
to, is fairly certain, but to call the bride One must beware of confusing such a use of
Omphale is unwarranted; nor can we be sure garments with the weakening effect exerted by
that Omphale was the original bride in the those sent by Deianira to Herakles and by
ritual of the Coans.127 In view of the large Medea to the bride of Jason. Instead of ener-
number of variations on the earth goddess, vating the wearer,135 the purpose was apotro-
Omphale is only one possibility among many paic, designed to ward off any damaging influ-
others to fill the role of bride at Cos.128 With ence of evil spirits, first at the time of sowing
the evidence at our disposal it is difficult tosubsequently extended to the critical peri-
and
trace her original shrine either to Lydia or ods
theof life when man was considered most vul-
Greek mainland, but we may safely say shenerable.
was Ovid 136 refers to an episode occurring
.a derivative of the old pre-Hellenic earth god-
at the time of the sacred marriage of Herakles
and Omphale: Faunus, having fallen in love
dess associated, in fertility rites, with a male
with the Lydian queen, attempts to ascend her
121 A. Klinz, Hieros Gamos (Halle 1933) pp. 13 ff. gives
a list of divinities involved in such rites.
129 Cf. Schweitzer, op. cit. p. 48.
122 Plutarch, Quaest. Gr. 58, ed. W. R. Halliday (Ox-130 Adonis, Attis, Osiris (London 1914) II, pp. 253 ff.
ford 1928) pp. 216 ff.; see also Iliad XIV, 255.
131 CR XX (1906) pp. 376 ff.
123 Op. cit. p. 165.
132 W. R. Halliday, BSA XVI (1909-10) pp. 212-19,
124 Cf. P. Carlton, Buried Empires (New York 1939) p.
gives a number of examples.
95; T. H. Gaster, Thespis (New York 1950) pp. 232 ff.
125 BCH XX (1896) pp. 401-22. 133 Cf. H. R. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration (Chi-
126 RA XXXVI (1900) pp. 99-114. cago 1929) pp. 126-7; A. W. Persson, op. cit. p. 110.
134 Loc. cit. p. 324.
127 J. E. Harrison, Themis p. 506, also makes an inter-
esting suggestion which, however, cannot be supported 135 Such an interpretation was fostered by comic
by the evidence at hand. writers and Christian apologists (cf. Tertullian, de pallio
4).
128 Farnell, op. cit. p. 162, finds no trace of Omphale
at Cos. 136 Fasti II, 305-359.

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 262 ELMER G. SUHR (AJA 57

couch after nightfall, The evidence forbut, the divinity of Herakles

deceived
change in garments, seeps throughfindshis later career among the
himself
next to Herakles. Greeks: he struggles with
When the and holds his own
lights
Faunus is discovered sprawling
against other divinities, on t
he obtains absolution
the subject of ridicule. by submitting to someThe form of degrading
fact bond-th
was clad in female age, and garments
finally he is snatched from thwart
the pyre to
chievous designsjoin of the
the circle harmful
of Olympians. He is also a heroint
is the primary purpose soliciting human sympathy
of the by undertaking
ruse
the sacred marriage. The
tasks and overcoming great garment
obstacles in spite of
has in no way weakened her consort who the oppressive hatred of Hera. Some time after
handles the interfering Faunus with ease; fur- the coming of the Greeks the divinity is com-
thermore, he performs a number of labors in promised with a hero, more than likely an im-
the service of the Lydian queen, labors which portation of the invaders, who lost his name to
were probably transferred by the poet from the the god; such a compromise can best explain
Greek mainland; these labors would not have the meaning of his name and the puzzling
hatred of Hera. The center of this movement
been inserted at this point by the poet had he
wished to convey the impression of weakness was no doubt Thebes where the story of Alc-
in Herakles. The effeminate features of the mena's conception and the birth of her two
face of Herakles when associated with Omphale sons reveals the most obvious patchwork.141 It
in the Roman period of art were inspiredisby a decided
the mistake to disparage one side of
comic poets and the prevailing misinterpreta- Herakles in favor of the other, and it is assum-
tion of the whole episode. ing too much to claim, as Farnell and Kret-
The spinning motive seems to have itsschmer origin do, that the hero antedates the divinity.
in Lydia where women excelled in this Omphale and the is probably an old version of an earth
related arts; Ovid 137 refers to Arachne as a goddess playing a role similar to that of Hera
Lydian. Spinning, generally regarded as in a pre-Hellenic religion, one who survived the
woman's occupation, was handed over to the clash between two religious traditions and the
male Herakles in this case to strengthen the union of Hera with Zeus. Her participation in
magical effect expected from the exchange aofsacred marriage with the divine Herakles andti
garments. It was meant to add what Pliny 138 the exchange of garments make this episode
called "auctoritatem religiosam." The best oneex-of the oldest in Greek tradition.
amples in sculpture showing Herakles with the The god Herakles forfeited much of his pre-
distaff and spindle include the group of Hera-rogative as a sky divinity to Zeus, a fact which
kles and Omphale in the Naples museum 139 made(pl. his compromise with the hero easier and
73, fig. 1), and a small bronze in The Walters Art
explains the close identification of Herakles
Gallery in Baltimore.140 (pl. 74, fig. 2). The with Zeus among the peoples of the East 142 who
latter, while its authenticity is questionable,
still remembered the original status of the di-
presents the solitary Herakles in the actvine
of Herakles and were loath to allow Zeus to
spinning and is the most interesting illustra-
tion of the art in ancient sculpture or painting.
137 Met. VI, 11.
In summary, the association of Herakles with
138 N.H. XXIX, 30.
Omphale goes back to a much more serious
139 No. 299/6406.
union of pre-Hellenic religion, a union of the
140 D. K. Hill, Catalogue of Classical Bronze Sculpture
male fertilizing agent and the female repro-
in the Walters Art Gallery (Baltimore 1949) p. 50, pl. 23.
ductive power of Mother Earth. Along with 141 J. Prickartz, loc. cit. pp. 337 ff. has made a worthy
the fact that the legend furnishes us with the attempt to probe into the background of this compro-
best evidence for the sacred marriage, it has mise;
the his explanation of the hatred of Hera, however,
turns out to be far from satisfactory. It should be added
longest continuity of any example of this sacred
here that the tale of twin offspring, one divine and the
rite; it can also afford us, for the above reason,
other mortal, was common also in the east. Cf. T. H.
with interesting information about the develop-
Gaster, Thespis (New York 1950) p. 255.
ment of a myth. 142 Cook, Zeus I, p. 356 and II, p. 492.

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 1953] HERAKLES AND OMPHALE 263
steal all his thunder.
vase As a and
painters divinity Herakle
sculptors in particular cher-
was not limited as he was in the role of a hero;
ished a much higher respect for the hero in
Herakles than for his divinity. Among the late
his acts, i.e. his gluttony in the A lcestis, the be-
getting of fifty sons by the daughters of Thespis, Greeks and the Romans the comic interpreta-
the devouring of the oxen of the ploughman, tion of the episode is emphatically stressed:
were all regarded as excesses by the Greeks and Herakles becomes an effeminate sot completely
made objects of ridicule by the comic poets.143 charmed and enslaved by a fickle coquette, but
The meaning of these acts is still obscure, but the trappings of the old religious rite are faith-
we can discern the serious significance beneathfully preserved. The Renaissance and the ro-
the comic covering of the Omphale episode mantic era carried on with the tale of a
which certainly belongs to the career of the seductive siren in the scultpure of Blanch
divine Herakles. We can also assume that the
and the music of Saint-Sains' distorted vers
fifth century Athenians in general and of
their
the legend.
143 Cf. Nilsson, Mycen. Or. of Gr. Myth., pp. 202-3. UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

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 PLATE 73

FIG. 1. HERAKLES AND OMPHALE

NAPLES MUSEUM

(Suhr, pp. 251-263)

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PLATE 74

FIG. 2. HERAKLES SPINNING

Reproduced by permission of The Walters Art Gallery

(Suhr, pp. 251-263)

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